Genesee Sun

Mumford's Burnwell Gas Explodes, Injuring At Least One Employee

MUMFORD — An explosion at the Burnwell Gas Company has destroyed the building and injured at least one company employee.

The employee was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital with burns on his face and body. It is unknown if the blaze, which occurred around 3 this afternoon, injured anyone else.

Firefighters from over 24 fire departments are still fighting the 3-alarm fire, which has now been declared under control by the Mumford Fire Department.

Residents in the area were told to evacuate.

Drew Zantopp, who runs Zantopia Herb Gardens across the street from Burnwell says he heard the explosion before he saw it.

“I had my back to the building across the street and I heard this tremendous ‘boom,’” he said. “I looked over my right shoulder and there was this fireball coming out of the roof. The roof had gone up in the air. Within moments, the entire building was engulfed in this tremendous, orange, burning ball of flames, and I started to freak out.”

Zantopp said he called 911 and his wife called Caledonia-Mumford school, which was about to dismiss students for the day.

Diane, a Genesee Valley Emergency Medical Services member from Caledonia, saw the building burning on her way home from work.

“The whole left side of the building was engulfed in flame,” she said. “It was maybe around 3, and there were massive amounts of smoke and flames at that time. The wind was just feeding the fire. It’s been burning ever since.”

As of 6 p.m. firefighters were still putting out the flames.

The cause of the explosion has yet to be determined.